


The Wishing Stone

by RyuCrisis



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Magic-Users, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-02-27 15:30:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13251165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyuCrisis/pseuds/RyuCrisis
Summary: Katherine Williams hated the way her life was going. She had no family or friends. All she had deemed worth anything was a special necklace left to her by her grandmother that she called the 'wishing stone'. On a particularly crappy day, she decided to wish for a better life. She DID NOT think that meant finding a dwarf in her closet! Thorin/OC friendship for now, may change later!





	1. Prologue-The Dwarf in The Closet

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: As you call can see I have decided to put this back. Like Eyes Like the Devil, I re-read it and decided it was worth the second chance. Because of all the shit I am working on, I do not know how often I can updated it but as everything else I have going on it will get done. I probably can't get all of the chapters I have done up tonight but be sure to look for them in the next few days. To the people who liked this story the first time and were so rudely robbed of it, I apologize so profusely. Feedback can go both ways sometimes and make you think things suck ass when they might not. 
> 
> Alrightie, I hope you all enjoy this the second time around as much as the first and to the new people checking this out happy reading y'all!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters!

_Katherine_

Sitting at her work desk in a tank top and sweatpants, 23 year old Katherine Williams sighed and continued to mess with a broken Game Boy handheld system. Because she had such awful anxiety coupled with bad asthma it was extremely difficult for her to hold down a decent job but she found a way around that little problem. It turned out she was really good at fixing things, especially electronic things. So she decided to start up a small business out of her apartment fixing and modifying electronics. She specialized in video games of the retro kind. Between what she sold on  _EBay_ and what she got paid to fix, it was enough to pay her rent and eat at least. It was a great set up except for one thing. Because she rarely left her apartment, the other people in her block of course began to talk about her behind her back and that made her want to leave her apartment even less. It seemed that people were always so quick to judge and never wanted to take the time to understand. She never asked to be this way.

She let out another sigh and put the broken Game Boy back onto her work desk. She played with purple gem that hung loosely around her neck for a moment. It was something that she always did when she felt her anxiety start up. For some reason, it always calmed her relatively quickly. She wondered it was because the necklace once belonged to her grandma. Her grandma was the only person on this stupid planet who gave a damn about her. After she passed away, her mother wasted no time in kicking her out of the house and cutting all ties with her.

She had barely turned 18 when this happened and had no experience in trying to survive on her own. The first couple of years had been extremely rough on her and she did a lot of things that she wasn't very proud of but she managed to get through it in mostly one piece. Thankfully she prided herself on being a fast learner, so she eventually managed to stabilize her life and make it livable.

She continued to fiddle with the gem around her neck lost in thought. Her grandma would always tell her such crazy stories about the necklace. She used to call it the 'wishing stone' whatever that meant. She used to say that it came from some place far away and that it had the power to grant wishes. She personally thought it was just a regular amethyst and that her grandmother really enjoyed telling crazy stories. While she enjoyed her grandmother's crazy stories true or not, her mother did not. Her mother thought that her grandmother was crazy and tried have her committed more than once. Hell, her mother tried to have her thrown in the loony bin more than once too claiming that she was just as crazy as her grandmother for even entertaining the idea of the stories. Maybe it was a good thing her mother kicked her out at 18, it was hell living that dysfunctional mess anyway.

Suddenly, her stomach let out a un-lady like growl and she shook herself from her thoughts. It was time to take a break and eat something. Getting up from her desk, she made her way to her tiny kitchen. Her apartment pretty much consisted of a bedroom, small bathroom and a kitchen/living room type combo thing that was more kitchen than living room. It kind of sucked but she would take it over living on the streets any day of the week. Stopping in front of her fridge, she opened the freezer part and her brown eyes looked through its contents until they landed on a box of pizza pops. Pizza pops for dinner tonight it was. She pulled the box of pizza pops out of the freezer and shut the door. Looking through her cupboards, she pulled out a plate and dumped two of the pizza pops onto it. She placed the pizza pops into the microwave and pushed cook.

As she watched the pizza pops cook, she ran a hand through her short, dark curly hair. This was no not how she pictured her life going at all. She felt so alone and trapped. Just because she had really bad bouts of anxiety it didn't mean that she wanted to be alone forever. But nobody seemed to want to get to know her. They all just thought she was weird and a loner. She could feel the tears start forming in the corners of her eyes and she tried to tamp them down.

"God, I wish I had a better life." She murmured to herself.

Her pizza pops suddenly beeped, distracting her from her dismal thoughts. She busied herself with getting her pizza pops out of the microwave and pouring herself a glass of milk. As she was doing this, she failed to notice that the purple gem around her neck was glowing softly. Picking up the glass of milk and pizza pops, she went into her tiny living room and sat down on her worn out couch. She placed the pizza pops and milk onto the old coffee table that sat in front of the couch and fished out the remote from the couch cushions so she could turn on a movie. She decided on the movie 'The Hobbit', it was by far one of her favorites. It was so nice to get lost in the adventure of the dwarves reclaiming their home when she was in such a crappy mood. Her favorite dwarf had always been Thorin, she felt for him so much. Not only did he go through all kinds of hell to get his home back, he battled through 'gold sickness' and then finally got his revenge only to lose his life in the end. She thought that was so un-fair. She would change it if she could but alas it was just a movie and she couldn't. As she turned the movie on and started digging into her pizza pops, a sudden frisson of weirdness rippled through her that she couldn't explain.

_Perhaps there is a way that you can not only change your fate but the fate of another, young one._

Her brown eyes became huge. Just what in the HELL was that!? Did she just hear a voice inside of her head? Okay, so maybe her mother should have locked her in the loony bin when she had the chance. She must be losing her damn mind. She shook away the feeling and tried to go back to her dinner. She only got two bites in when she suddenly heard something, was that…was that movement coming from inside of her room? Her eyes became wide again, was somebody trying to break into her apartment? She did have a small window her bedroom over her bed and she was on the ground so it WAS possible. It was a small window so whoever it was had to be skinny enough but she had seen weirder things happen before. The noises became more insistent and she knew that she had two options. Option one was just to call 911 and let the cops deal with it. The problem she had with that option was the commotion it would cause. She didn't think she could handle her neighbors having any more reasons to call her a weirdo if it turned out to be nothing. Option two would be to go and check it out herself, it could be nothing for all she knew and she was a big girl not some damsel in distress. She decided on option two.

Putting her plate of food on the table as quietly as she could, she tip toed to the kitchen and picked up the bat she kept in the space between her fridge and counter for just such an occasion. Lifting it over her head, she tip toed to her bedroom ready strike if need be. Entering her bedroom, she was shocked to find it empty. She was seriously confused now. She knew that she heard SOMETHING coming from her bedroom. Just as she started lowering her bat, the noise started happening again, only twice as loud now and it was punctuated by a lot of cursing in a language that she did not recognize at all. She realized with shock that the noise was coming from INSIDE of her closet. How was that even possible? Now she was in a situation that she didn't even know how to handle. She raised the bat over her head again and approached the closet carefully. Whatever it was that was in her closet, she couldn't just leave it to suffocate in there how matter how bizarre the situation was. If there was one important thing her grandmother taught her, it was to have an open mind. For all she knew an animal got in there somehow and she accidentally locked it in there and it wasn't cursing in a different language she was hearing it was some weird animal noises.

Gathering every ounce of bravery she had, she opened the closet door and was NOT prepared for what was on the other side. She was sure she was hallucinating. The medicine in her puffer must have gone bad or something because there was NO WAY that this was happening right now. Somehow, there was a dwarf crammed into her closet. Why was there a bloody DWARF crammed into her closet? It wasn't just any old dwarf either, why was Thorin Oakenshield crammed into her closet staring death at her?

She had to be dreaming there was no possible way that any of this was real. She must have fallen asleep at her work desk again. The baseball bat that she had been holding above her head slipped from her grip and fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

She blinked once and then again. It felt like her entire brain started to overload, she felt the sweet, sweet darkness start to consume her and welcomed it. Hopefully, when she woke back up everything would be normal again.


	2. The Grouchy Uninvited House Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey all! Here is the second chapter up and ready to go! Thank you to the three lovely people who left me the kudos(s)

_Katherine_

Katherine let out a low long groan. She sat up slowly and rubbed the back of her head. She wondered why she was on the floor and everything hurt. Looking over to her side, she saw that for some reason her baseball bat was on the floor next to her. Just what in the heck happened to her? As she sat there trying to decipher why she was on the floor with her baseball bat, she felt somebody…staring at her. That didn't make any sense, there shouldn't be anybody staring at her in her bedroom. Looking up slowly, her brown eyes locked with a pair of stormy blue ones and everything suddenly came crashing back to her. The frisson of weirdness, the weird noises coming from her closet and then somehow finding Thorin bloody Oakenshield crammed in her closet. This wasn't even possible and yet it was clear that she wasn't dreaming it because she felt the pain to prove it. He was still staring death down at her and she had no idea what to even say or do. Apparently, Thorin did.

"What is the meaning of this? I demand you send me back to my company right now!" He demanded harshly.

She sort of flinched at the volume of his voice. Thorin in real life was nothing like the Thorin in her movie and if he got any louder he would alert all of her neighbours. She shuddered at that thought. That was the last thing she wanted, she could only IMAGINE the disaster that would become. She had to do something fast.

"Um well, here's the thing about that is I have no idea how to do that or how you even got here in the first place." She admitted.

At her saying that, his look of death only got worse.

"What do you mean you can't send me back, you brought me here did you not?" He stated in confusion.

As she got up off of the ground, she made a face. What was she supposed to say to that? She didn't even do anything! He was acting like this whole entire thing was all her fault, how was it her fault that he just suddenly appeared in her closet of all places?

"How the hell am I supposed to send you back when I didn't even DO anything?" She asked in annoyance.

She could tell that her annoyance at the situation was just making him madder. She crossed her arms over her chest waiting for him to respond to what she just told him. Suddenly, his stormy blue eyes shifted from her face to her chest and his entire demeanor changed. He went from wanting to kill her where she stood to coughing in embarrassment. He looked away from her entirely and she looked down at herself in confusion. She didn't understand what his problem was with her appearance until he pointed it out.

"You are half dressed, girl! Why are you half dressed?" He managed to choke out.

Her entire face burned in embarrassment. Whirling around, she yanked her sweat top off the back of her desk chair and quickly put it on. Sweet holy mother of crap balls, that was really embarrassing. Middle Earth was so much more modest than her world, what she considered to be her pyjamas he considered to be half dressed.

"Well actually, these are just considered pyjamas in this in this world. You would be shocked at what is considered half-dressed here." She explained and then dropped the subject quickly. "ANYWAY, I really have no idea how you got here or how to get you back to your world, I'm really sorry."

She watched his demeanor go right back to extreme anger at what she said. Oh, crap.

"If you can't send me back, I will go and find somebody in this world that can send me back!" He exclaimed angrily.

Immediately, her brown eyes went large and a bunch of alarm bells started going off inside of her head. She couldn't let him leave her apartment. She could only imagine what kind of havoc he could cause running amok in her world, probably a lot of pain and unnecessary death. She had to figure out a way to keep him from trying to leave. She looked at his weapons and fought against the urge to swallow hard. At the rate she was going, she was going to be at the business end of those weapons. As she continued to look at his weapons, she noticed something. He didn't have the blade he got form the troll horde yet. That meant that he wasn't very far in his quest yet. This made her wonder just what was going on in Middle Earth without him. She sure hoped that they just wouldn't continue the quest without him. Or was everything just frozen without him there? Oh, this was so messed up and how did she go about fixing it?

"Look, do you really think it would be a wise idea to just go traipsing all over a world you know nothing about?" She asked seriously.

She watched him mull over what she said in his head and he looked at her grudgingly knowing that she was right.

"Then what do you suggest I do, girl?" He snarked.

She tried to hold back her frown and a noise of annoyance at the way he kept calling her 'girl' in such a condescending way like he was above her or something. Well nuts to that, she got that from everybody who lived in this stupid building with her. She absolutely refused take that crap from him too.

"It's Katherine, not 'girl' and just stay here for now until we figure out how to send you back. I don't think that there is much else than can be done at the moment. Are you hungry at all?" She asked curiously.

At the mention of food, his anger seemed ebb away a little bit and he seemed to be considering her question. She could tell the prospect of food was winning out over his anger at her and the situation they found themselves in. She couldn't help but snicker at that a little bit. She knew that offering him food would make him change is tune quickly.

"Alright Miss Katherine I accept your offer of food, Thorin Oakenshield at your service." He replied, bowing slightly.

As he introduced himself, she had to bite down hard on her tongue. A huge part of her really wanted to tell him that she already knew that but she knew that if she did that the consequences would probably be very terrible. As she thought more about that, she realized something huge. She knew exactly what would happen to him by the end of the movie, what if she could change that? In all her movie watching experience, whenever somebody went to change something either in the past or another world it always went straight to hell in a hand basket. She really didn't want to be responsible for causing the entire universe to implode on itself or something like that. She thought about that voice that she heard after she felt the frisson of weirdness. Maybe she was meant to try and prevent that ending from happening but how could she do that? She was just Katherine Williams. She was just a loner with terrible anxiety and really bad asthma. She wasn't anybody special. As she continued to think such crappy thoughts, she could feel her chest tightening and she jammed her hand into her sweatpants pocket and tried to fish out her puffer. She tried to keep herself calm; she didn't want to rely on her puffer so much. She breathed a couple of deep, calming breaths. Thankfully, it seemed to work for now. As she did this, she could feel Thorin's eyes on her and she felt herself heat up in embarrassment.

' _Oh great, he probably thinks I'm totally insane now._ ' She thought to herself.

Putting the bad thoughts out of her mind for the moment, she tried to look normal and she smiled at him.

"Okay, the kitchen is this way." She said, jerking her thumb in the direction of the doorway behind her.

Before she led Thorin from her bedroom, she bent down to pick up her baseball bat so she could put it back into its hiding place. She saw that Thorin was staring at the bat with his eyebrows raised as if to say "Were you really going to try and beat me up with that?"

"What? I live alone I have to protect myself somehow!" She explained.

Thorin let out a barking laugh.

"If you think you could beat me up with that little girl, you are dreaming." He laughed.

She rolled her brown eyes.

"Do you want to eat or not?" She teased.

He gave her a look as if to say "You wouldn't dare!"

"You wouldn't dare keep a dwarf from his food!" He exclaimed.

She held back a snort and shook her head.

"Come on, let's go and eat." She laughed.

She let Thorin to her small kitchen and gestured for him to sit at her small kitchen table. It looked kind of comical he was so much larger than the table with all his weapons. Hopefully, at some point she would be able to get him to remove them. Now that he was sitting, she went to make sure the T.V. was completely off. Thank god for timers, she couldn't only imagine what would happen if he saw himself playing on the T.V. What a disaster that would be, she couldn't even imagine trying to explain her way out of that one. She also picked up her now soggy pizza pops to get rid of them. She had finally had somebody to cook for and she was going to do it right, damn it! Cooking was one thing her grandmother did teach her to do because her stupid mother refused to teach her anything. So when her mother kicked her out, she wasn't totally useless. It was one of the only things she enjoyed doing and did well but she didn't like doing it for just herself. She thought it pointless and lonely to cook so much food for just one person. So she never usually made anything but frozen entrées for herself. She knew that it was probably the unhealthiest thing ever. It was probably the main reason that she wasn't any size four but she didn't care about that. She liked her curves just fine.

Looking through her fridge, she pulled out the ingredients for a lazy man type stew, it probably wouldn't be as good as one made the long way but it would have to do. She all pulled out a carton of milk for them to drink. Finally, she had a reason to use all the stuff in her fridge and he was a dwarf king from another world! She was still trying to wrap her brain around it. If anything, she was happy that she wasn't alone anymore and actually talking to someone however ridiculous that sounded. Despite her anxiety and what people thought of her, she was extremely lonely. She inwardly sighed, she couldn't believe how starved for human contact she was or contact with any kind of individual for that matter. She shook out of her dismal thoughts; she put a pot on the stove and began to prepare different ingredients to throw in the pot. As she did this, she could feel Thorin watching her. It felt extremely weird considering she had been on her own for so long. She still hadn't figured how he ended up in her closet in the first place, never mind figuring out a way to get him back to Middle Earth.

As she got all of the ingredients in the pot and cooking on the stove, her traitor mind went to thinking about how his quest ended. There had to be a reason he ended up here and her curiosity was starting to get the better of her. Maybe everything was meant to be changed but then again Middle Earth wasn't even supposed to exist in the first place. So how in the crap did a being from another world end up in her closet of all places? She rubbed the side of her head in an attempt to stop the impending headache that she had coming on.

_Relax, young one. All will be revealed in due time._

Her eyes became large and she almost dropped the wooden spoon she had clutched in her left hand onto the floor. There was the voice again! Who was that and where was it even coming from? Did she have a ghost in her house now too? She shook her head and tried to put it out of her mind for now. She had enough things on her plate to deal with at the moment. She looked at Thorin who was looking at her with something akin to worry.

"Are you alright, Miss Katherine?" He asked gruffly.

She searched for a way to answer that without sounding crazy.

"Um yeah, I'm just overtired and thinking way too hard." She explained quickly.

It was mostly true; she had barely slept in days due to insomnia from her anxiety and trying to complete several  _EBay_  orders that were almost over-due. She would probably have to stay up half the night in order to finish them tonight so she could mail them out tomorrow. She would have to go out in public tomorrow and mail them. She shuddered at that thought but it had to be done. Hopefully, she could sneak out of the place without anybody seeing her.

' _Because this is exactly how a person should have to live their life._ ' She thought sarcastically.

She inwardly sighed, god her life really did suck crap-balls. She took a moment check to make sure all of the vegetables in the stew were cooked through; she also gave it a taste to make sure that it was properly seasoned. Satisfied that it was ready, she spooned him a bowl and one for herself. She also got them each a glass of milk to drink. She watched him dig in heartily and was happy to see her skills hadn't gotten rusty at all from lack of use. She played with the purple gem around her neck for a moment out of habit and then dug into her own bowl of stew. If felt so good to eat real food for a change. After finishing her bowl of stew she felt much better, it was amazing what a decent meal could do. She decided that it was time for to try and get back to work. Unfortunately, those orders weren't going to fill themselves. She placed her bowl in the sink to clean later and turned back to Thorin who was still stuffing his face. Well, least she was sure it tasted good.

"Thorin, the pot of stew is on the stove take as much as you like. I have to go and get back to work." She informed him.

All she got was a grunt in return and rolled her eyes. At least he was neater eater than some of his dwarf companions were. She left the kitchen and went back to her room to get back to work on all of her orders she had due. What a day this turned out to be.

_Thorin_

Working on this third bowl of stew, Thorin was lost in thought. What had happened to him and how had he ended up in this strange world? In some strange girl's closet no less. None of it made any sense. One minute, he was traveling with his company the next he was in some strange world in some strange human girl's strange looking home. If it could even be called that it was so small. He looked around the small home, everything looked so weird and he had no idea what any of it was. As he continued to eat, his thoughts drifted back to said strange human girl, he was pretty well at her mercy for the time being and he hated it. He hated being stuck in a strange place while he had no idea what was taking place with his company back in Middle Earth, they surely wouldn't go on without him would they? He was their leader, their KING! They needed him! He had to get back to his world as fast as he could.

Getting up from the small table, he placed his bowl in the sink mimicking what the human girl did earlier and left to go find her. She may be a strange little thing but at least she knew how to cook a decent meal. He found her in her room hovering over a desk with strange things strewn all over it. He had to admit that his curiosity was piqued and he had to get a closer look. He watched her hands work gracefully and purposefully as she put certain things together and took other things apart. She absentmindedly hummed a little tune as she did this. It was like nothing he had ever witnessed before but it sure was interesting to watch. As he continued to watch her, his stormy blue eyes drifted to something hanging around her neck. It was a purple gem hanging on a silver chain.

Instantly, he knew that it was not of her world but his own but just what in Durin's name WAS it?


	3. The Secrets of the Purple Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey everybody here is another chapter already to go! Thank you again for the kudos they make my day! If you all could keep that stuff up I would be internally grateful! :) 
> 
> Happy reading everybody!

_Katherine_

Katherine sighed softly as she started to go through her orders that she had to have shipped out by tomorrow morning. Thankfully they weren't that complicated. She had to two clients that had a few games with save batteries that needed replacing and another that wanted her to customize their Game Boy for them. Neither of those things were very hard to do, they just took a bit of time. As she began working on the save batteries, she suddenly felt that she was being watched very closely. Whirling around, she just about came face to face with Thorin. He was so close to her that if she moved in any way she would bump into him. Letting out a shocked, high pitched squeak, she tried to jump back and almost toppled over her own work stool.

"Thorin, what the heck! You almost gave me a heart attack!" She exclaimed.

Thorin completely ignored her outburst. His stormy blue eyes were focused on her neck. He was staring at the necklace hanging around her neck intently. It was kind of freaking her out a little bit.

"Um Thorin, is everything…okay?" She asked a little un-certainly.

"Your necklace, where did you get it from?" He questioned.

She gave him a little bit of a weird look at his question. Why was he suddenly so obsessed with her necklace?

"It's just a necklace I inherited from my grandmother after she passed away. It's nothing special, I assure you." She explained.

She reached up and gently touched the purple gem out of habit. She held back a flinch as Thorin moved her hand out of the way to get a better look at the gem. She couldn't even remember the last time she had somebody stand this close to her let alone touch her. She was beginning to get freaked out all over again.

"This is no ordinary sparkly purple stone, little girl. This is not something of your world." He stated with certainty.

She looked at him like he suddenly sprouted little green hairs all over his body. How was he suddenly so sure that her necklace came from his world? To her it just looked like a regular amethyst on a silver chain.

"Uh huh, sure it is." She said disbelievingly.

Immediately, he became angry at her for not taking him seriously.

"What is that so hard to believe, little girl?" He growled angrily.

She had at smartass comment on the tip of her tongue lined up all ready to go and then she thought of something. All of the stories that her grandmother told her when she was growing up suddenly jumped to the forefront of her mind. Could they possibly be a whole lot less crazy than she thought them to be? That would be totally asinine wouldn't it? Just before her grandmother passed away, she gave her a box of keepsakes to hide from her mother. She knew that her mother would just end up throwing them away. She ended up hiding them under the floorboards in her closet. She knew without a doubt that the box would still be where she hid it because her mother wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Her grandmother had told her not to open the box until she had passed. Now that she had passed away, she still hadn't being able to bring herself to open the box. She didn't know if anything in the box would be of help to them at all but maybe it was time to go and find out.

She looked at him sort of curiously. If he was so sure that it came from his world, did he know what it was? She had to ask him and find out.

"So if you are so sure that it comes from your world, do you know what it is?" She asked curiously.

She watched Thorin shift a little bit, it was clear that he was trying to hide some embarrassment. So he didn't know what it was.

"There are many magical trinkets in my world, it is impossible for any one person to know them all." He explained.

Well that sort of made sense, Middle Earth was a huge place after all.

"Okay well before she died, my grandmother left me a box of her keepsakes. Maybe something in there will help us figure out what it is." She told him.

She could see that she had his interest immediately piqued.

"Where is this box of keepsakes?" He asked curiously.

She could smell this question coming a mile away.

"It's at my mother's house. I'm going to have to sneak in there to get it but it shouldn't be too much of an issue." She explained.

He gave her an interesting look at that explanation. She could tell he wanted to know why she would have to sneak into her own mother's house.

"You would have to sneak into your own mother's house to get it? Why?" He questioned.

This was something she really hated talking about. She hated having to explain to people that her own mother disowned her for such a stupid reason. What mother disowns their own kid for enjoying their grandmother's stories? She sighed.

"That's something I don't really like talking about and it really doesn't matter. I can get the box out of the house. Just not tonight, I have too much work to do." She said, her tone leaving no room for discussion.

She could see Thorin's face pinch in anger and she knew that he wanted to convince her to go now but that just wasn't happening.

"Why would we waste time waiting until tomorrow when we can find out what the necklace is right now?" He demanded to know.

For a moment she fought to keep her cool. She had to keep in mind that he was taken from his world and just unceremoniously dropped in her world without warning. If she were him she would find a way to get the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible too. Hopefully she could get him to understand why trying to sneak into her mother's place at 1 am was a very bad idea.

"Because I have a lot of work to do so I can send these orders away and get paid for them. I kind of need money to live. Plus, it's in the middle of the night and I would rather try to sneak into my mother's house at a time where there is a chance she won't be there." She explained praying that he would understand.

She watched him mull over what she said in his mind a little bit and then he nodded.

"Okay thank you. Come on, I'm sure suddenly jumping worlds must be a little tiring. I'll make up the couch for you." She said, gesturing for him to follow her.

Thankfully, he complied and followed her. Before heading back to the living room, she made a quick stop at what she called her 'hall closet' and pulled out a pillow and some blankets. It wasn't much but it would have to do. She led Thorin to the living room and tried to set up the couch the best that she could. She shuffled awkwardly, it wasn't anything special by any means but it was better than sleeping on the floor.

"Here, I know it's not anything that great but it has to be better than sleeping on the floor." She said awkwardly.

Thorin gave her what was supposed to be a thankful look; instead it looked like he was trying not to snicker at her awkwardness. She inwardly rolled her eyes.

' _Thanks a lot, jackass. Maybe I should just make you sleep on the floor for that.'_  She thought to herself in annoyance.

"It's sufficient, thank you." He said sincerely.

At his response, some of the awkwardness and annoyance left her. That response was far better than what she thought she was going to get.

She gave him a small smile and nodded.

"Good, now I really have to get back to work. If you need something just come find me." She said, jerking her thumb in the direction of the room behind her.

Thorin nodded and she left him to his own devices and went back to her room. She had so much work to do and very little time to do it in. She got back to work on the save batteries. Thankfully, they were very easy to do. After she finished those, she boxed them and got them ready to ship. Next, she started working on the Game Boy. This project would take a little more time. The customer wanted custom colored buttons and a back-lit screen. As she fiddled with the Game Boy, her mind began to wonder. Was her necklace really from Middle Earth? If it was from Middle Earth how in god's green earth did her grandmother get it? None of this made any sense to her but Thorin seemed so adamant. She only hoped that the box of her grandmother's keepsakes would give them some kind of answer. She had so many questions floating in her mind that she didn't even know what to think.

She let out a long sigh. She finished customizing the Game Boy and tested it out. Once she was satisfied with the outcome, she boxed it and got it ready for shipping. She looked at her clock and groaned. It was now 3:30am. Well, it wasn't as if she could sleep on a regular basis anyways. Picking up her phone from her small night table, she made sure to set her alarm properly so she wouldn't accidently sleep all day. Satisfied that everything was ready to go, she climbed into bed and slowly fell asleep.

Sometime Later

_Katherine_

At the sound of her alarm blaring, Katherine jolted awake. Letting out a low snarl, she picked up the offending object and slammed her finger into the cease alarm button. For the first time in she didn't know when, she actually slept soundly for a change and that stupid alarm just ruined everything. Muttering obscenities under breath, she rolled out of bed and started getting ready for the day. After throwing on a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans, she found a clean pair of white socks and put them on too. Exiting her bedroom, she headed to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. After she finished her teeth, she picked up her hair brush and brushed out her short, curly brown locks. Satisfied with her appearance, she left the bathroom. She went back to her bedroom to get her puffer and her packages. Then she exited her bedroom and went into the kitchen. She placed her packages onto the kitchen counter momentarily and went to check on Thorin. She was not shocked to see that he was snoring away on the couch. She was however shocked to see that he removed his weapons. She supposed that it wouldn't be too comfortable to try and sleep with them on. She decided that her best bet would be to just let Thorin continue sleeping. If she woke him up, he would either try to kill her or want to try and come with her. Neither of those options were very good.

Tip Toeing out of the living room, she picked up her packages and her keys. After putting on her shoes, she quietly left the apartment and shut the door behind her. She tried to exit the apartment as quickly as she could, she really didn't want to bump into any of her neighbours if she could help it. She would rather avoid the name calling and sneers if she could. Thankfully, she managed to escape the apartment in one piece. There was only one good thing about living in a stupid little prairie town and that was that everything was within walking distance. The crappy thing about it was that everybody knew who she was "The anxiety ridden loner freak who never leaves her apartment" and since everybody knew her the stupid reputation stuck however wrong that it was. It didn't help that her own mother spread lies about her too.

She made quick work of walking to the post office and dropping off her packages. She didn't want to spend any more time in that place then she had to. Exiting the post office, she started walking in the direction of her mother's house. She prayed to whatever god there was up there that her mother would be out because that would make her life so much easier. Sure enough, she entered the drive way of her Mother's house and her Mother's car was not there. Finally she had a little bit of luck on her side. Going around to the back of the house, she walked up to the back door and tired it. She was shocked to see that her mother had actually remembered to lock it. She went the barbecue that sat on the cement patio and stuck her head underneath the cover. She knew that there was a hide-a-key on it somewhere. As she did this, she failed to hear the presence come up behind her. Suddenly, she felt something cold on the exposed skin of her back. She realized that her shirt must have ridden up and quickly pulled her head out from under the barbecue cover. She whirled around quickly to figure out just what it was that was behind her. Her eyes softened when she realized that was her grandmother's black German Shepard, Cinder who was looking at her all excitedly and wagging his tail happily at her. Her grandmother told her that she picked the name Cinder because of his eyes; they were bright like the dying cinders in a fire. Right now those eyes of his just looked sad.

She knew that he wasn't happy stuck outside 24 hours day with nobody to talk to. She knew that her mother took care of his basic needs but that was it. Her apartment was pet friendly but her mother outright refused. Because if it made her happy her mother couldn't possibly let it happen. Bending down, she scratched the top of Cinder's head and he let out a happy sounding snort.

"Oh boy, I sure wish I could take you with me." She murmured.

Suddenly, Cinder became excited and started pawing at her shirt where the necklace was. She had to stop herself from falling onto her butt. She tried to push Cinder off of her.

' _What IS the deal with this stupid necklace?_ ' She thought to herself.

"Easy Cinder or I'll end up on my butt. Look, I have to go and get that box before mother catches me and everything goes to hell. I promise you that one day soon I will get you out of this hell hole, I swear." She said, stroking his muzzle softly.

She was happy that Cinder's eyes seemed to be a little less sad and that he seemed a little less depressed at her words. It was almost as if he really, truly and completely understood what she said. It was a little weird. She shook her head, all the weird stuff that had happened to her recently was starting to mess with her mind. She gave Cinder one last pat on the head and went back to trying to retrieving the key from underneath the barbecue. It took her a moment but she came up victorious with the hide-a-key box. She pulled the key out and unlocked the door. She entered into the house and immediately went upstairs to her room. She went into the closet and started pressing into the floor looking for the loose floor boards. Sure enough, she found them. Kneeling down onto the floor, she began to work them loose. It took a few minutes but she managed to loosen them enough to get a good look inside of the hiding space and sure enough the small box was still there. She worked it free and checked inside, thankfully everything was still there. She knew that there was no way her mother was smart enough to find it. Keeping the box firmly clutched to her chest, she got out of the house as quickly as she could. She made sure to put the house key back where she got it from and made sure to give Cinder one last scratch on the head before she bolted from the yard.

After hoping the fence, she wasted no time in returning to her apartment. She couldn't believe how smoothly that all just went. Because everything went so smoothly, she decided she would test the fates above and check her mail. She went to her mail box; she placed the small wooden box underneath her arm and fiddled with her keys so she could open her mail box. As she did this, she was approached by a little boy no older than 6. He had a 2ds handheld in his hand and looked very proud of it. The boy tugged on her pants a bit.

"Hey are you the lady the makes game systems look cool?" He asked curiously.

She smiled and nodded at him. She crouched down to his level.

"I sure am! What have you got there?" She asked warmly.

He showed her his 2ds system.

"This is my new 2ds system! Doesn't it look so cool?" He said proudly.

Continuing to smile at the little boy, she nodded once more. It was no nice to have somebody talking to her like she was an actual human being, kid or not.

"It sure does!" She agreed.

"Since you make game systems look cool if I saved up enough money could you make it look cooler?" He asked curiously.

As she was about to respond to the little boy, he was suddenly ripped away from in front of her by who she assumed to be his mother. The mother looked down her nose at her and sneered at her.

"Come on Alex, we don't talk to strangers, remember?" She sneered.

This made her feel so crappy, why did everybody think that she was the fricking plague? As the boy was being dragged off by his mother, he looked at her sadly which made her feel so much worse. Grumbling angrily under her breath, she opened her mailbox and retrieved all the mail from it. She slammed the metal door shut. As she turned to leave, she game face to face with a guy that lived above her in the apartment block and two of his friends. She looked heavenward and hoped they wouldn't give her any crap. Unfortunately, that was a pipe dream.

' _Oh come ON!_ ' She thought angrily.

She was so beyond this crap right now. She tried to just ignore them and go around them but one of them reached out and grabbed her. His grip on her arm was impossibly tight. She tried to get free with everything she had. She could feel her lungs tightening up. She needed to get out of this and fast.

"Hey lookie at what we got here boys." One of them said.

"Dude, do you even know who she is? She's the loner freak that stays holed up in her apartment for days on end you don't want her." One of the other men said.

The first man spoke again.

"Hey, who cares about that, we can still have some fun with her." He said with a grin that she really did not like.

The third man spotted the wooden box underneath her arm.

"Hey look! She's got some presents for us!" He said, pointing to the box.

She clutched the wooden box protectively to herself. They would have the box over her dead body. Which might become a real possibility at this point, she had no idea what to do there was no way she could get out of this it was three against one.

' _Oh how I wish somebody would help me!'_  She thought to herself frantically.

Suddenly, the necklace around her neck began to glow and she felt the same jolt of awareness that she felt just before she found Thorin in her closet. She looked down at it in shock. What in the hell was happening?

_Fear not young one, all will be well._

Her brown eyes widened in shock, there was the voice again! The glow increased and then suddenly some kind of purple magical pulse exploded from the necklace. It knocked all three men back from her effectively freeing her from the first man's grip. She took the opportunity to run as fast as she could without looking back. By the time she got back to the apartment she was wheezing quite heavily and struggled to open the door. Finally getting the door open, she entered the apartment and headed straight for her bedroom completely ignoring Thorin on the couch. All she wanted to do was get into her bed room. She got into her bedroom and managed to take all of two steps before collapsing onto the floor. She dropped the wooden box onto the floor and all of her mail onto the floor. She struggled to get her inhaler out of her pocket. What on earth even happened back there? The necklace just exploded to life and tried to grant her wish? Oh all of this was so messed up! She managed to finally free her inhaler from her pocket but she just couldn't get her hands to cooperate and do what she wanted them to do. As this rate if something didn't happen fast she would be suffocating on her own bedroom floor and she wouldn't have to worry about it or anything else for that matter.

_Thorin_

Suddenly, Thorin was jolted awake by something. He realized that it was some kind of noise. He got up and looked around. He couldn't find the little human anywhere. He followed the noise and realized he that it was coming from her bedroom. He tried the bedroom door and found that it wasn't locked, thankfully. He entered the room and was not prepared for the sight that he found. The little human was on the floor struggling to breath and what he assumed to be the box of her grandmothers keepsakes was on the floor with its contents strewn all over the place along with a few white envelopes. Immediately, he crouched down next to her and saw that she had a tiny little device in her left hand that she was trying to bring to her mouth. He helped her guide it to her mouth and then he saw her try to press down on the top of it. She just couldn't gather the force necessary to make the little device work. He placed his hand over hers and helped her press down on the top of it. He heard it release a puff of something and then she inhaled whatever it was deeply. She motioned her him to help her do it again and he wasted no time in doing so. Finally, he could see that she was somewhat returning to normal and she looked at him gratefully.

"Th-thank you, I think you just saved my life." She said seriously.

He watched her pull herself into an upright position and noticed something. There was an angry bruise on her upper arm. He immediately felt a jolt of protectiveness run through his system. It was clear that a male somebody had grabbed onto her arm. He didn't understand where the protectiveness was coming from after he had just met the girl the day previous but regardless of that no person should have to endure abuse of any kind.

"You are welcome, what in Durin's name happened to you girl?" He asked demanding an answer.

She made a face and then tried to explain to him what happened.

"I was trying to get my mail; I got cornered by some men that live in the apartment above me. I knew that they were going to hurt me and I didn't know how I was going to escape them. I sort wished for help and then the necklace just exploded to life and knocked them all away from me. I got so freaked out and ran as fast as I could and then started having an asthma attack hence why you found me on the floor suffocating to death. God, if my life wasn't already hell it will be now." She muttered putting her head in her hands.

He was shocked at her explanation. He only knew of one magical trinket from his realm that could do such things, the wishing stone. It granted whatever the wearer wished for but there was a catch, it was very difficult to wield. The wearer had to have a pure heart and absolutely put their whole heart into what they wished for otherwise it would not work no matter what the wearer tried.

There was only one tiny problem. The wishing stone was just a myth, a story that was told to younglings at bedtime.

So just how was he staring at it now, around the neck of an ordinary human in a completely different realm than his own? Not only that, she already managed to use it twice! None of this made any sense to him at all!

 


	4. Don't Forget, You Aren't Alone Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey y'all I am finally back with a new chapter! I am so sorry it took so long to update. Between the death of my dog and my muse being a total jackass it was hard but now I'm back! Hopefully, you all like this chapter as much as the other one. Personally, I think it is much better and less rushed plus I added a couple of extra things.
> 
> A big thank you to everybody who has left kudos and comments they really mean a lot. A huge thank you to Prisioux your input has helped me a lot! Also, thank you everybody who left me well wishes about my dog they really help a lot too!
> 
> Okay I think that's all I have to say!
> 
> Happy reading y'all!

_Thorin_

Thorin let out a sigh as he discreetly watched Katherine working away at her desk from the kitchen. It had been three days since she went to retrieve the box of keepsakes. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to convince her to open the blasted thing yet and he was beginning to grow extremely impatient with her. He knew that it was a sensitive matter and he had to try and respect that but he was getting desperate to get back to his own world. There was no telling what was going on without him being there.

He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the wishing stone was real never mind that it was in the possession of a tiny slip of a human girl and that she somehow managed to wield it twice no less! He was definitely missing pieces to this puzzle and he had a feeling that most of them were in that blasted box of keepsakes. If only he could convince her to open that box!

He thought of the story of the wishing stone. It was one he told as a bed time story to Fili and Kili many times when they were growing up.

_Long ago, it was said that the forest was guarded by small nymph like creatures called 'forest sprites' or 'guardians of the forest'. They were notoriously hard to come across because of their ability to transform themselves into other creatures. Usually, a hobbit or a human sometimes even an elf. Sometimes, they even had magical animal familiars for protection. Usually, they came in the form of a large wolf or bear. Again, because these creatures were so adept with the use of magic the untrained eye could never tell the difference between one of these beasts and a regular creature of the forest._

_Their duty was to keep the evil magic in the world in check. Not under any circumstances, could they let the evil magic get out of control and run rampant. Things remained peaceful for many years. However, one day something changed and 'guardians of the forest' could no longer keep the evil magic contained. No matter what they tried, the 'guardians of the forest' could not stop the evil magic from spreading and tainting everything. It had begun to change the forest._

_As the evil magic spread further and further, the 'guardians of the forest' realized that it must be looking for one thing. Their sacred treasure, the wishing stone. A gem that could grant the wishes of any individual that could wield it. If such a treasure fell into the wrong hands it could spell complete disaster for all of Middle Earth and beyond. In order to try and stop this from happening, it was decided that the queen of all 'forest guardians' would keep the wishing stone in her possession so it would remain well guarded._

_It stayed safe in her possession and many years passed. However one day the queen of all 'forest guardians' suddenly vanished taking the sacred treasure with her. Without the queen of all 'forest guardians' to keep evil magic from running rampant and destroying all of the good magic in the world, the evil magic began to spread unchecked for hundreds of years. It is said that one day the 'descendant of the queen of the guardians' will return and wipe out the evil magic and make right those who have been wronged._

Of course, the story was only hearsay. A complete and total myth, nothing but a bedtime story told to younglings to get them to get to go to sleep at night. He remembered telling the story to Fili and Kili frequently because they adored it so much. So much so that they would go on 'adventures' together to try and find these 'forest sprites' or 'the queen of the forest sprites' of course they never found anything no matter how hard they looked.

However, he did have an interesting experience one time when he went into the forest looking for Fili and Kili because they had been gone for several days and his sister had become worried sick about them. He wandered through the forest for quite some time looking for them until he came across a younger looking human girl taking a leisurely walk through the forest with what he assumed to be her dog.

He remembered this human girl so vividly because of her strange appearance.

She was young he could tell that much, yet her hair was the most unusual shade of silver and her eye were bright green. Her frame was very petite and curvy. It had been the first and only time he had come across a human with such features. He membered asking her if she had seen his nephews at all and her kindly pointing him in the direction that his wayward Nephews went off in. He remembered her giving him a gentle smile and then simply walking off in the direction opposite of where she told him to go. It had been the weirdest encounter that he ever had with a human and there had been some WEIRD ones.

The weirdest part of the whole thing is that it happened on multiple occasions. With the same human woman. Each and every time, she would give him a kind smile, point him in the direction that his Nephews went in and then wordlessly walk off in the other direction. She always had her big, black wolf-like dog with her. It was unlike anything that he had ever witnessed before in his life. She was clearly human, yet there was something odd about her.

Eventually, his Nephews out-grew the story and stopped 'adventuring' so frequently into the forest and he put the encounters out of his mind. Now, they had jumped back to the forefront of his mind with a vengeance. For some reason, he just couldn't get out of his mind that the girl and the Wishing Stone were somehow connected in some way. He knew that there was a distinct possibility that the box of keepsakes held some of the answers that he was searching for.

He turned his attention back to Katherine who was still working away and decided that he was done waiting. He would coax to open the box of keepsakes one way or another.

_Katherine_

Humming softly to herself, Katherine re-arranged her tools and video game parts on her work desk. For three days now, she had avoiding her grandmother's keepsake box like it was the plague. She knew that it was probably driving Thorin insane but she couldn't help it. She would never admit it out loud but she had no idea what was in her grandmother's keepsake box and she was a little afraid to open it. She had no idea what kind of memories would surface when she opened it or if she could even handle it.

Hell, she was scared of what she would find inside of that box period. If what Thorin was telling her was at all true, her grandmother's crazy stories may be a lot less crazy than she thought they were. She wasn't sure if she would be able to handle THAT on top of everything else that she was trying to deal with. Of course, she was way too embarrassed to explain that to Thorin so instead she had just putting it off for as long as she could. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Thorin became frustrated enough with her to force her to open the box of keepsakes.

Sure enough, he came into her room and wasted no time in entering her personal space. That was one thing that she was quickly learning how to put up with. It was clear that Thorin had no concept of personal boundaries and was not afraid to be in her personal space. He was looking at her with a gentle look in his stormy blue eyes. He placed his large hand on her shoulder and this caused a frisson of uncomfortableness to jolt through her but she willed it away.

"Look Katherine, I know that is situation is very sensitive for you but I need to know what is in that box. I need to get back to my world. I know that this is extremely difficult for you to understand but the fate of my entire kingdom rests on my shoulders and whether or not I can get back to my world and finish my quest." He tried to explain to her with un-characteristic gentleness.

She gave him a look back and bit her lip. She knew just how important it was for him to get back to his world and finish his quest more than he could ever know. As much as she wanted to say that out loud to him, she knew it would be a bad idea because it could potentially mess up the entire universe. Also, she didn't think that Thorin would take too well to the fact that she knew a lot more about middle earth than she was letting on and she didn't need to deal with that on top of everything else so she bit down hard on her tongue. Instead, she focused her attention on said wooden box sitting on the end of her desk.

She knew that no matter what, Thorin had to get back to Middle Earth some how and she had to help him do it.

She turned her attention back to Thorin and let out a soft sigh.

"Alright Thorin, we'll open the box." She mumbled softly.

Thorin's un-characteristic look of gentleness morphed into something akin to pride. She knew that was proud of her for doing something that made her so uncomfortable to help him get back to middle-earth. She knew that this was something that didn't happen often with him and some how knowing that he was proud of her for doing this really helped her a lot.

"Good girl." He praised gently.

She gave him a look that was sort of a cross between unsure and shock at the praise. Nobody had really ever praised her for anything bar her grandmother and she had no idea what exactly to do with it. It made her feel slightly awkward, but she didn't hate it either. To get rid of some of the awkwardness she was feeling, she turned her attention back onto the wooden box once more.

She sat down at her desk and brought the box closer to herself. For a moment, she hesitated and then she took a deep breath.

' _Okay, here goes nothing. I can do this!_ ' She thought to herself over and over.

Gently, she opened the box. She was shocked to see an envelope with her name written on it in her grandmother's tidy writing sitting on top of the contents of the box. For now, she took the envelope out of the box and put it aside. As she looked through the box, she felt her throat begin to constrict and she could feel tears burning in the corners of her brown eyes. She let out shocked squeak as she felt Thorin's hand on her shoulder once more.

Again, a fission of uncomfortableness jolted through her and she tried to put it away as quickly as she could. She knew that Thorin was just trying to help her stay calm and if she was being completely honest with herself, she was grateful for it. The last thing she wanted to do at the moment was have another asthma attack like she did before.

She forced herself to focus on the things inside of the box instead of her overwhelming sadness or Thorin touching her shoulder. Most of the things were small mementos from things that they did together. Like rocks and shells from the beach and a couple of concert ticket stubs. There were a couple of marbles in there too and again she willed herself not to cry. She had collected marbles for many years when she was young and then when she got older she got rid of them all. Her grandmother must have keep those marbles as a reminder.

She tried like hell to be strong and put the sadness away for now but it was so hard. This was all she had left of the most important person in her whole life.

She continued to sift through the contents of the box until she pulled out a sliver ring. It was very obvious that this ring was not of her world. It was pure sliver and very intricate with a good sized emerald sitting in the middle. As she continued to examine the ring, she felt Thorin tense up next to her. She turned her attention to him and saw that he had a very sour look on his face and this made her really curious. It was clear he recognized the ring somewhat and she was curious as to why it caused him to have such a sour look on his face. She gave him a questioning look and he merely glared back at her. It was clear that he wouldn't tell her what bothered him so much about he ring even if she asked him. She internally rolled her brown eyes at am.

' _What a stubborn jackass!_ ' She thought in exasperation.

Knowing it was fruitless to ask him about the ring at the moment, she put it aside and picked up the envelope instead. She knew that this could possibly the most upsetting thing that she's ever had to read but she had to get it done. She knew that she would feel a lot better once she did however hard it would be.

Gently, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out a white piece of paper. She saw that there was also a photo inside of the envelope but she ignored it for now. She opened up the piece of paper and began to read what was written on it.

_Dearest Katherine,_

_If you are reading this now, that means that I am no longer with you and I am sorry. I am sorry for everything that you've had to go through in your life so far because of me. I am also sorry for the burden I must place upon you. I take it that by now you've figured out that the stone around your neck is no ordinary amethyst. It is in fact something very precious from a world very far away._

_It was my duty to keep guard over it and now that I am gone that duty falls onto you. This something that I just could not trust to your mother. It is meant for you and you alone. One day soon, the stone will call to you and you must answer it. You are meant for so much more than rotting away in a place that you don't belong in. Again, I am so sorry that I have left you to try and deal with such a burden all on your own but my time was up in this place._

_I know this is so hard for you but this is something that you need to do. I know you can do it. If you succeed, it will change so many lives for the better. The stone will help point you in the right direction too, you just have to let it. Katherine, no matter what you might think, you have grown up into an amazing being and I am so proud that I got to have a part in it as long as I did._

_Please know that even though I am no longer with you physically anymore, apart of me will always be with you._

_P.S. Please keep Cinder close to you at all times, he will become more important to you than he already is. Also, please keep the silver ring inside of this box close to you as well. It is also very special and it like Cinder will help you along the way as well. Plus, I am pretty sure the owner of it will be wanting to see again at some point soon!_

_Love always,_

_Grandma Winifred_

Katherine let the letter fall onto the desk in shock, she couldn't even believe anything she just read and yet it had to be true. She had already activated the stone twice without even meaning to. Thorin wouldn't be here otherwise, so it had to be true but what was she going to do about it? She could barely handle her life the way it was now how in HELL could she think to handle all of this?

She picked up the picture that was in the envelope with the note and looked at it. It was of her and her grandmother at some event. It was one of the few times in her life that she had been happy. She had a smile on her face as big as her grandmother did. Staring at the picture caused a huge lump of emotion to clog in her throat and this time she couldn't stop the tears from coming.

She had no idea what to do now or what the next step was. How could she hope to deal with such a burden all on her own? As she thought that, she suddenly felt a frisson of weirdness just like the one she felt just before she found Thorin in her closet.

_Fear not young one, you are not alone._

Her brown eyes widened at what the voice said. It was right, she wasn't alone. She had Thorin with her. Maybe, she accidently wished Thorin here for a reason.

She turned to Thorin and he was still looking at her with that un-characteristically gentle look on his face. He reached up and caressed her head with his large hand. Her brown eyes got huge at the gesture. She knew that he was just trying to comfort her the best he could and she was actually enjoying the touch shockingly enough. It didn't make her feel awkward, nor did she want to shy away form it either.

As Thorin continued caressing her head with his large hand, she began to calm down some. No matter what, she knew that this something that she couldn't just hide from.

She had no idea what to do next or how to get Thorin back to middle-earth or even what it was that her grandmother wanted her to do but she would figure it out.

However hard this was going to be, she knew that she wouldn't have to do it alone and that's all that mattered to her.

_Thorin_

Thorin listened as Katherine read her grandmother's note out loud in shock. He had been mostly right all along. He had a feeling that the 'story' of the forest sprites had been true all along. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Katherine's grandmother had to be the person that he kept running into the forest while he was looking for he nephews. He knew that it could be nobody else. It was the only way that she could have come into possession of the wishing stone.

After she finished reading the note, she pulled out a photograph on some sort of paper he had never seen before and his suspicions were confirmed. The photograph was of her and her grandmother together and they were smiling. Her grandmother looked exactly like the young girl he met in the forest right down to her unusually bright green eyes and silver hair. Of course, she looked much older in the picture than she was when he met her in the forest all of those years ago but it was her of that much he was sure.

What he didn't understand how in Durin's bloody name she ended up in this realm instead of Middle Earth and what could have caused it?

The letter wasn't of much help either, her grandmother had been so cryptic it was hard to understand half of what she said in the message and then there was the silver ring that she left in the box.

He shuddered when he thought about it. While he wasn't completely familiar with the ring he knew it was of Elvish make and that alone caused him to shudder. He did not need another reason to have to deal with the Elves he hated so much and yet here one was. He knew he had little choice but to try and figure where exactly it came from. That was something that he was NOT looking forward too but it had to be done.

Not only was this tiny little slip of a girl in possession of the wishing stone, but she was so much more.

If he was careful, this could tip the scales in his and all of Middle Earth's favor. If not, then all hell would break loose and that was the last thing he wanted.

He look at Kathrine and saw just how upset she and he felt for her. He couldn't even imagine how frightening this all must be for her. He could feel a surge of protectiveness well up inside of him. Deep down, he knew that she was his to protect now.

He reached out and caressed her head softly and she looked up at him with huge brown eyes.

"Hush, little sprite. You aren't alone anymore. I'm here with you now." He soothed gently.

She looked at him in shock at the endearment that just slipped out of his mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 


	5. NOTE

Hey everybody!

First of all, and I can't stress this enough, please don't kill me! I know I am putting author's notes on this shit left and right but you guys all deserve to know what is up. Now that I am working on Professor's Pet, I am really seeing what my stress levels can and can't handle for the time being and I have a lot of damn stories going at once. I never realized just how many until I actually started going through them an such. As I did this, I started to realize I might have to start tackling this shit systematically. I am sorry if that means some stories will take uber super long to update but I would rather put out decent quality stuff then a bunch of bullshit.

SO! For the time being I will be concentrating more on Professor's Pet, my original work Misfits and of course once I get more of Professor's Pet out, I will be jumping back in to Practical Magic part 2! Also, for the smut lovers out there I will be putting up a series of one-shots depicting all of the sexy scenes from Practical Magic! There is much to look forward too! I just think for the sake of my stress levels it is best to concentrate only a few things at one time.

In saying all of that, please don't start panicking about my other stories. I promise that they aren't abandoned I swear! Once I get more of my Dr. Strange stuff on the go I will be getting back into them once again I promise. I just wanted to let everybody who is reading my other stuff know what's up so they aren't waiting for an updated on a certain thing and wondering WTF is up!

Thank you all for being patient with me,

~Ryu


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